Getting Ready for Meaningful Use EHR - Understanding the Framework of Change Transformation by Anticlue

There is a sense of timeliness to watching the ocean waves crash upon the shore. All that momentum diminished as they reach the shoreline. They continue to end their journey upon the shore modifying the shore just a smidge. The sandy shore remains in tacked and seemingly undisturbed - almost immune to the changes.
The truth about transformational change is that it needs to be well architected and executed to stick. As you begin to consider executing any change initiative whether a PMO, Lean Six Sigma, or digitalizing paper based process, it is good to keep in your mind what will be needed to transform the organization to the new way. Depending upon the combination of vision, sponsorship, stakeholders, communication, education and quality assurance will equate whether the change transformation will be done by leaps and bounds or in small baby steps of improvement. The change transformation framework will help you consider the phasing and initiatives needed to bring the changes into the heart and minds of your colleagues and culture.

Transformation Assessment

As we begin to leave the land of "We have always done it this way", it is good to get a sense of how the organization will be affected. Once you have this sense, it helps to set the pace of the change will this move like a distrubtive hurricane or a tortoise down the road. What level of senior leadership commitment is needed and how far from their comfort zone do they need to travel. The common processes for this phase are:

• Organization Impact Analysis Summarizes how the proposed change will positively and diversely impact different areas of the organization.
• Transformation Readiness Assessment- Assesses the maturity and willingness of the impacted organization for a change. A key part of this consideration is the change journey from where we have been to where we currently are to where we want to go.
• Communication Needs Assessment- Identifies what information stakeholders and sponsors will need to make the transition.
• Education and Development Needs Assessment - Investigates and determines the new skills and knowledge necessary for the transformation
• Individual Adoption Needs Assessment - Ascertains the willingness of the individual to adopt the proposed changes and the provides the motivations which will close the willingness gap.
• Institutional Needs Assessment - Provides a summary of the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in the new environment.

Transformational Planning

Transformation Planning capture the plans needed to achieve the future state by crystallizing who, what, when, and how the transformation will be approached. These processes include:

• Develop Stakeholder Engagement Plan- Develops how key stakeholders will be identified as change agents and enabled to promote consensus-building and adoption of the new strategy, and identifies ways to measure degree of adoption.
• Create Sponsorship Engagement Plan- Establishes sponsorship responsibilities for facilitating organizational commitment and engagement throughout the transformation process. The plan also manages expectations.
• Perform Gap Analysis on Current / Future Vision - Captures the effort to obtain the gaps and disconnects between the current state and the future vision.
• Develop Implementation Plan - Constructs and finalizes the implementation plan and highlights the milestones are met. The plan should Illustrates the objectives and desired benefits.

Transformational Implementation

Transformational Implementation is the execution of the implementation plan and walking through the process of motivating and involving stakeholders and sponsors in the initiatives as you drive towards adoption. It is good to keep in mind what's in it for the individual and institution as you move towards adoption. Transformational Implementation includes:

• Stakeholder Motivation Activities - Involves the management and execution of stakeholder engagement activities.
• Sponsor Involvement Tasks - The key activities which continues to develop sponsor participation and accountability
• Gather Metrics on Adoption - Tracks the adoption by monitoring key metrics within the organization.
• Transformation Execution - Executes the plan to realize the change while interweaving vision, sponsorship, stakeholders, communication, education and quality assurance.

Transformational Communications

Our comprehensive transformational communications delivers key messages and information to the right audiences at the right times to assure a resonating message. Communications includes:

• Communications Planning - Identifies the marketing message, communication opportunities, and determines the necessary communications with a predetermined frequency
• Communications Implementation - Constructs the needed communication mechanisms whether this is a new communication opportunity such as sharepoint or a blog, or can utilize in place opportunities, leadership meetings and other venues.
• Communications Deployment - Concerned about the delivery of the communications and events as depicted within the communications plan. The deployment should also be mindful of effectiveness and adjust the plan as needed.

Transformational Learning Development

Tranformational Learning and Development programs are comprised of the training and reinforcement necessary to develop the skills and knowledge within colleagues and teammates to operate successfully in their new environment. Tranformational Learning Development includes:

• Education and Development Planning - Lays out the training program needed to bridge the skill gap.
• Training Implementation - Develops the training program, course material, and delivery methodology. Also coordinates training for the entire organization as detailed in the plan.
• Development Deployment - The actual training program delivery.
• Implement a Continuous Improvement Program - In order to sustain the change, a program to identify potential value-added improvements and implement them needs to be put into place. This will help support the associates in the new environment.
• Implement a Quality Assurance Program - Again to sustain the change, a program to reinforce the new culture and methodology to assure the change continues to achieve the desired benefits.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like other entries in our Getting Ready for the Meaningful Use EHR Series:

• Capture Current Workflow and Baselines


• Spread the EHR Fever!


• Accessing your nursing organization's capacity for change


• Assessing your current infrastructure


• Using Rules to support clinical decision support


• Assessing your vendor management skillset


• Assessing your project execution ability


• Discovering the organization's perception of an EHR


• Getting your physician leadership engaged


• The 5 levels of healthcare IT Credibility


• Understanding the refinement of meaningful use


• Accessing your governance practices

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